Games and like promotions which can be played in connection with purchase of certain products have demonstrated enduring appeal with consumers. Promotions of this nature typically include the introduction into a product stream of both winning and non-winning promotional articles, with the articles ordinarily being indiscernible from each other prior to purchase. Upon purchase, consumers open the product packaging, or otherwise determine whether the promotional article is one of the winners. Frequently, the articles can be employed in a "secondary" game, so even if the article is initially of the non-winning type, the articles can be collected for another opportunity to win in the secondary game. Promotions of the above type have been particularly popular in connection with sale and consumption of beverages, where closures on the beverage containers may be printed with suitable indicia in connection with a game, or may be provided with removable gaming pieces or the like carried in or on the closure.
Promotions of the above type are ordinarily subject to state and/or federal regulations, which typically require that consumers be advised of the odds of winning differently valued prizes in the promotion. Accordingly, it is necessary that the requisite mix of winning and non-winning promotional articles be introduced into the marketplace to provide the requisite odds in compliance with regulations.
As will be appreciated, depending upon the specific nature of the promotion, and the numbers of winning and non-winning promotional articles involved, achieving the requisite blend of winning and non-winning articles can be somewhat problematical. For certain promotions, a relatively large number of relatively low-value winning articles may be introduced into a stream of non-winning articles, which may be possible to achieve attendant to the usual manufacture of such articles. Nevertheless, instances of pilferage of the winning articles can occur, mandating careful control to assure that the requisite blend of winning and non-winning articles is achieved in the marketplace.
For some promotions, a relatively small number of relatively high-value prizes may be awarded, and experience has shown that this can require specialized handling of the winning promotional articles. "Hand-seeding" of the winning articles may be required in some instances to assure that the requisite blend of articles is achieved in the marketplace. As a consequence, the costs associated with running the promotion can be undesirably increased.
The present invention contemplates a method and apparatus for creating a blended stream of promotional articles, such as winning and non-winning promotional articles, or winning articles of differing values, for use in connection with product promotions and the like. While the present invention has been developed for use in connection with promotional closures for containers, it will be recognized that an invention embodying the principles disclosed herein has widely varying applications.